Cal Thomas on Abortion

If anyone doubted the complete contempt Cal Thomas has for women, his column (Editorial Pages, June 20) is complete confirmation.

To even suggest that criminalizing abortion would stop its practice is reprehensible, to say the very least.

There are few women who were close to adulthood before Roe vs. Wade that weren’t aware of the horrors of illegal abortions. Where were Mr. T and his self-righteous “moralists” when desperate women were using knitting needles, afghan hooks and wire-coat hangers. Who harassed the back-room butchers? Who picketed for the millions of women who died in bloody pain, infection and terror?

No one who is pro-choice advocated forcing or pressuring for abortion to anyone. This is fundamentalist propaganda. The numbers quoted were hardly taken from a random sample of women. They were well chosen for his purposes. He chose to overlook the women who were relieved, grateful, thankful and still healthy.

The quality of and the value of women’s lives has no place in the consideration of Mr. T and his group. His “establishment” is concerned with methods of controlling the lives of its followers. Keeping women barefoot and pregnant is one time-honored control. It is no longer acceptable.

Motherhood is a privilege, a joy and a pleasure, such that Mr. T cannot conceive (pun intended). He considers motherhood a punishment for sexuality. That’s his problem. Never again will it be ours.

MIRIAM ALBERT

Thousand Oaks